Precision flying over PCBs

Ebermannstadt, Germany. Vierling Production is investing a six-digit sum into a new automated quality assurance system. The newly acquired flying probe system from Digitaltest will help the electronics manufacturer to quickly and reliably check the quality of printed circuit boards (PCBs) made in its plant in Ebermannstadt, Germany. This will benefit its affiliate Vierling Communications, a major purchaser of telecommunications equipment from Vierling Production, and also many external customers. The plant in Ebermannstadt provides electronic manufacturing services to more than 40 companies in the information technology, aviation, aerospace and automotive sectors. Vierling Production will also use the new system to offer test services to other electronics manufacturers.

Four nimble probes
“The flying probe system lets us test PCBs quickly and reliably”, said Bernhard Goppert, who is responsible for the new system at Vierling Production. “The heart of the system is formed by four thin probes that follow a trajectory from component to component over the PCB in fractions of a second.” The probes trace out a precisely programmed path as they test the components and solder joints one after another. Individual test points can be tracked with a maximum accuracy of
75 micrometers. A micrometer is one thousandth of a millimeter.


Two to three days instead of six weeks
Until now, Vierling Production had to have expensive vacuum adapters with up to 800 fixed measurement pins made externally to perform the necessary in-circuit tests. “We frequently had to wait up to six weeks to obtain an adapter”, reported Goppert. “Now we can create test programs on our own within two to three days.” One relatively fast alternative to in-circuit tests is automatic optical inspection (AOI). “While the flying probe system is still somewhat slower than the AOI system, it does produce more in-depth results”, noted Goppert.

Complete range of services
Manfred Verkühlen, who is responsible for logistics and sales at Vierling Production, explains some further benefits as follows: “With the flying probe system, we can offer our customers certain additional services and close the gap between automatic optical inspection and costly vacuum adapters. We can also test PCBs for electronics manufacturers that don’t have a similar system of their own. This investment into a flying probe system will round out our portfolio as a full-service provider and enable us to provide services to a new group of customers.”


Captions

The heart of the system is formed by four probes that check all of the components and solder joints on a PCB in only a few minutes.

[JPGs available from: VIERLING Marketing Communications, marketing@vierling.de, +49-(0)-9194-97-284]


Those benefiting from the new test system include companies that have PCBs, devices and complete systems manufactured by Vierling as well as other electronics manufacturers in the region.

[JPGs available from: VIERLING Marketing Communications, marketing@vierling.de, +49-(0)91-94-97-284]


About Vierling
The Vierling Group is based in Ebermannstadt, Germany near Nürnberg and offers customized communications equipment, test equipment and electronic manufacturing services (EMS). Vierling Communications GmbH has a product line that includes GSM, CDMA and UMTS gateways to enable efficient interconnectivity between mobile radio, VoIP and fixed networks as well as stationary and portable test & measurement solutions for telephone, DSL and broadband networks and IP-based services. Vierling Production GmbH develops and manufactures electronic equipment ranging from individual printed circuit boards to complex electronic systems for companies in diverse industries. Vierling Systems GmbH is based in Berlin and provides installation and support services related to telecommunications solutions from different manufacturers. The Vierling Group has two independent subsidiaries: Vierling Communication SAS based in Plaisir, France near Paris and Vierling North America Inc. based in Tarrytown, New York (USA). The Vierling Group is represented by sales partners in more than 40 countries. It has about 250 employees and generates annual sales of about 30 million Euros. For additional information, please visit www.vierling-group.de or www.vierling-production.de.


Press contact
Dr. Markus Diehl
Marketing Communications
Vierling Communications GmbH
Pretzfelder Straße 21
D-91320 Ebermannstadt (Germany)
Tel.: +49-(0) 9194 / 97 - 0
Fax: +49-(0) 9194 / 97 - 105
E-mail: marketing@vierling.de